Several lines of evidence suggest that essential hypertension has different characteristics in blacks compared to whites. These differences may at least partially be due to comparing blacks and whites who were inadequately matched for various clinical parameters. We used echocardiography to compare cardiac anatomy and function in black and white hypertensive subjects who were carefully matched for age, sex, level and duration of hypertension, treatment status, and renin level. No significant differences in any of the parameters measured was discerned.